A mere service station for the economy—Phelps Warns of Danger

"Students may come to feel that the University is a mere annex of business."

This warning was given to the University Council by Students' Association representative Denis Phelps on 25 May. The Council was considering a proposal for the establishment of an Advisory Committee on Business Studies.

The proposal, which was adopted, was for the creation of a committee to encourage co-operation between the Faculty of Commerce and Administration and the business community.

The Committee, to be chaired by Pro-Chancellor O'Brien, was first suggested by Professor Sidebotham as a means of improving mutual understanding between the Faculty and the wider community.

Mr Phelps said he thought the time may be coming when a much harder approach must be taken towards anything that carries the university further along the road of becoming a mere service station for the economy.

"Students may come to feel that the university is identified with, or is considered a mere annex of, business."

"With the strongly anti-business and anti-industrial bias of many of the young of today, this suggestion of the university being closely linked with "the establishment" can only increase the growing antipathy and reflectively anti-authoritarian attitudes of some students to the university."

Mr Phelps warned of the danger if the university becomes excessively responsive to the demands of business and of the economy.

"The job of the university remains, in my opinion, to produce the whole man and not to become a tertiary technical training institute."